Renting a car gives you so much freedom. I am typically a solo traveler so I could never contemplate something as luxurious as having my own ride. Once I found a travel companion a whole new world opened up for me. For as little as $12.50 a day we could hop off of the Gringo Trail and go to remote areas. When you don’t want to spend half your day transferring buses and hitchhiking, this is the best way to travel. Daniel Victor is a kind El Salvadorian that lives in Santa Ana. He has started his own business and it is much cheaper than going to a car rental agency. He will deliver the car to you merely for the price of gas and drops you off where you need to go when you return the vehicle.
Once we rented our car, we decided to explore Barra de Santiago which is a remote beach near the border of Guatemala. The beach was nearly empty and in pristine condition. There were some local homes lining the beach and a few tiny restaurants. Besides that, it was just us on a palm tree lined beach. Barra de Santiago is a strip of land jutting off of the coast. There is an estuary on one side and the ocean on the other.
We found delicious pupusas here that were way cheaper than anywhere that caters towards tourism. Keep in mind though that the farther you get from the Gringo Trail, the more often you’ll need Spanish to communicate.
Chronicles of a Wandering Soul 